Monday, December 26, 2011

11 in 2011

I love year end lists, but I find music very hard to rank, or even winnow down to manageable. So this is a list of 11 songs that got caught in my ears this year that I don't think I've mentioned before.


Storms (Fleetwood Mac cover) by Jessie Baylin
America, Bill Callahan
Vomit by Girls
Cruel/Kind by Gold Leaves
Thunder Rail, Austin Lucas
Not Enough by J Mascis
Novacane, Frank Ocean NSFW
Straight Into Darkness, Tom Petty
Downbound Train cover, Kurt Vile
History of Plastic, War on Drugs
Holy Holy, Wye Oak

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Enemies

by Dante Micheaux

        [for Ishion Hutchinson]

The thing about entertaining them,
about keeping their company,
about fraternizing,
is you must remember
they are bloodless
and have many faces,
though it’s easy enough
to walk in sunlight,
where either you or they
become invisible,
never together seen;
easy to get in bed with them,
to bed them,
to be seduced by them—
listing in their own dominance.
Remember what makes one human,
animal, is not the high road
but the baseness in the heart,
the knowledge that they could,
at any moment, betray you.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011

To Be The Thing


To be the thing 
by Dorothea Lasky

To be the name uttered, but not to have the burden to be
To be the name said, but not heard
To not breathe anymore, to be the thing
To be the thing being breathed
To not be about to die, to be already dead
To not have to disappoint
To not have the burden of being late
Or punctual
To not eat, to not have to eat
To not feel anything
To not be the one's whose affect is criticized
To not pick up the fallen over boxes
To be everywhere but the boxes or plates
To not break the plates
To be beyond breaking
To have been broken 
To not bear the burden of not being present
To not have to feel the pain of being hurt
To have transferred that pain over
So that hurt is only part of the imagination
And the imagination is everywhere, is every color
To not contain color, to be color
To not make sound, to be sound
To not have language, to echo, to plan language
To be the stream of words
To not be sad for
To not have those be sad for
To not eat alone
To not fuck those who do not find your corpse attractive
To not fuck
Or stuff
To be ashes and non-placed
Not displaced, but to not be in any place
To enter the ocean on not a whim, but a physical force
Where there is no center
Where there is no safety
There never was
There was never any anger
There was never anything to look at
I never looked at anything
I just went and walked
I tried to love
But love is hopeless
And I have lost all hope, so bleak I am beyond
I am beyond what might be considered low
There is low nor high, space or time, I have 
Gone away from that which is uttered
I have not burdened to be spoken of or spoken for
To croak everyday to the livelong bog
I do not speak a thing
I exist
No, no I don't
I never did
And you may have
But I never did 
And you may have called out for me
But I was already gone
And I am already there
That which you speak of
I am already spoken for
In a world of light and ashes
They all call my name
They have waited for me
And now I know
I was always
Already there 
With them



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Monday, September 5, 2011

Jason Molina

I don't remember where I heard this guy, but I really like this song.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Monday, July 18, 2011

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Midwest Can Be Alright

Maybe nowhere special, sometimes it's not a lot of fun...

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sam Beam's wave

My 2 year old niece was waving at me today and it reminded me of Sam Beam's wave to the audience at his concert a few weeks ago. It seems like most artists raise their hand to crowds, but Sam Beam moved his wrist and waggled his fingers to us - an actual friendly wave, like we were neighbors or friends he was happy to see. It was very endearing.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Bon Iver Hathaway Raitt

Bon Iver Debuts “I Can’t Make You Love Me” Cover On Fallon - Stereogum

The release of I Can't Make You Love Me today made me remember this wonderful mashup of it with Donny Hathaway's Song For You.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hey You, What Song Are You Listening To?


Edinburgh


Munich



Kharkov



St P, Russia

I was going to stop, but they're all so good!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Master and Everyone

I'm fickle and I brag about it...

Friday, June 17, 2011

Hey You, What Song Are You Listening To, Melbourne?


I like a lot of these songs. I think I'm going to stop on this one, but they are very fun.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Hey You! What Song Are You Listening To, Paris?


Beau men in Paris, no?

Hey You, What Song Are You Listening To, Bucharest?


Florence and the Mechanics. Hee.

Hey You, What Song Are You Listening To, Seattle?


I was concerned I wasn't going to know any bands or songs in Seattle, but then I did.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Mountain Goats cover Jawbreaker

I like the Mountain Goats and I like the explanation he gives of everyone's connection to Punk -


The Mountain Goats cover Jawbreaker

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011

Treat

Emmylou Harris 1977 Concert

This is wonderful - the whole concert in 5 YouTubes.

Old Grey Whistle Test

1) feeling single, seeing double
i'll be your san antone rose



2) pancho and lefty
making believe



3) c'est la vie
tulsa queen



4) together again
luxury liner



5) ooh las vegas

Thursday, May 26, 2011

On my mind

Choco-Vine

 saw ChocoVine at the store the other night - "The taste of Dutch chocolate and fine red wine" . They should just package it with Midol. Actually, I've spent some time coming up with other names for it: 

  1. LamBosco
  2. Chocdonay
  3. Pinot Noir Chocolate 
  4. Hershianti 
  5. Chocolate Chipblis
  6. 3 Muscatels

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

My favorite Oprah moments

I wouldn't consider myself to be a big Oprah fan, mostly because I know some big fans and I am not like them! But I've certainly watched my share over the years and I have a lot of respect for what Oprah has accomplished. Here are my favorite moments:

  • Weight loss show

I know she's done a lot of weight loss shows, but this one really clicked for me. It was some people who worked for her and it made me really think about getting older and not checking my habits as I got closer to 40. It was a 12 week commitment and it had specific rules:

Oprah's 12 week Boot Camp

I did well on that program. I have since abandoned it, but I hope to go back. And I certainly still think about it.


  • Forgiveness

I saw a man on 48 Hours Mystery whose one son who tried to kill his family and did kill his wife and his other son. He was on an Oprah show about forgiveness I saw, as was a woman who had befriended the woman who killed her daughter in a drunk driving incident. Their ability to forgive astounds me, even though I believe in it as a concept. I think Oprah has given forgiveness a lot of thought, and I admired her very much in these interviews, allowing the people to tell their stories and their stance and still allowing us and herself to not understand as well.


  • Girls abused by family members

I know Oprah has experience with this, but she was so perfect in this interview; I still think about it a lot. Twin girls had been sexually abused and raped by their two brothers and their father throughout their adolescence. It was an unbelievably painful, shocking story and really, I think the girls might be better for talking to Oprah about it. She talked about forgiveness to them as well, and she defined forgiveness as, "Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past can be changed." That is a new thought for me and one I contemplate.


  • Nate Burkus

I happened to catch the first show Nate Burkus was on and watched that audience fall in love with him. It was about living in small spaces and Vern Yip was on too, it was a great show and it made me start to really think about what I do with my living space.



  • Book Club  

I have read some of Oprah's selections, but never when they were current, or even ever participated in a book club. But I am a librarian by training and I am in awe of what Oprah has done for reading. The numbers show that people stop reading fiction after school, and some never start and I know Oprah has changed that for millions of people.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

National Short Story Month

May is National Short Story Month and I thought I would share some of my favorites:

  • Short Story Masterpieces
  • I think a lot of people want to return to the classics, but it can be hard to find the time. A classic short story collection can be the perfect way to become more familiar with the greats in a shorter time period. Plus, they're just fantastic stories.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Friday, May 6, 2011

Strand of Oaks

I like this music and his voice is so sweet. I almost made the drive to Bloomington to see him, I sure hope I get another chance someday.

Explore Music's interview and 2 songs with Strand of Oaks

Good cover

I like this guy's voice and I like this song

J Mascis Circle

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Willy

Lisa Hannigan's cover of Willy makes me want to crawl up in a ball and cry, in a good way. Starts about 6:00.

Lisa Hannigan Session from earphoria on Vimeo.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

25 Best Songs of 2011 so far

I enjoyed this list, and agreed with a lot of the picks.

25 Best Songs of 2011 so far by Paste

I especially liked Wye Oak (#12) and The Belle Brigade (#1), the latter I hadn't heard of before.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Opening Day

Suddenly the Mets fans made perfect sense to me. What we were witnessing was precisely the opposite of the kind of rooting that goes on across the river. This was the losing cheer, the gallant yell for a good try -– antimatter to the sounds of Yankee Stadium. This was a new recognition that perfection is admirable but a trifle inhuman, and that a stumbling kind of semi-success can be much more warming. Most of all, perhaps, these exultant yells for the Mets were also yells for ourselves, and came from a wry, half-understood recognition that there is more Met than Yankee in every one of us. I knew for whom that foghorn blew; it blew for me.

Roger Angell, the Summer Game.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Dirty Beaches

He's my latest, so maybe that's why it's so exciting to me. I'm really into this fuzzy throwback sound, I am excited to hear more.

James Blake

My ears keep catching on James Blake. I think it's a new sound and apparently a lot of people like it, he's blowing up everywhere. This is an old old favorite of mine, and I love his take on it.

Middle Brother

I bought Deer Tick's The Black Dirt Sessions last year and enjoyed it, so that's all I knew about Middle Brother, that John McCauley III was in it. They're not really breaking new ground for me, but I think their sound is fun and tight.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The War on Drugs

The first song I heard from them and got obsessed with is The History of Plastic, it really rocks. I like the way they sound like a band I already know but I don't.

Damien Jurado

I'm late to hear about Damien Jurado, which happens all the time. He was on a few of the best of 2010 lists I read and I like his sound and want to hear more.

First Quarter Music

Blam, it's the end of March, the end of the first quarter of 2011! With the exception of the last few days, in which time has gone backwards it seems, time has flown. It's slowed down lately because the weather has gone back to Winter, boo!

I decided to post eight of the bands I've recently discovered and listened to this quarter. I think it will be interesting to see if I am still listening to them at the end of the year. Sometimes it's hard to stay with a band these days, because there's no radio play or whatever, so this will remind me to check on them throughout the year.